Through a Different Pair of Eyes
by MrTheatrical
Summary: What if in the episode, The Symbol Life, something... interesting happened to Ash and Charizard before their battle against Noland and Articuno. And now they must resolve to different, yet familiar methods to defeat Noland and win the Knowledge Symbol. I don't own Pokémon.
1. Storming Up Some Trouble

Hello everyone! Here's a story I've always been wanting to do! It all takes place within the episode, The Symbol Life, only with some "surprising" turn of events.

That's all I have to say right now, so please enjoy!

* * *

The sun slowly rose from behind the far-off mountains around the Battle Factory of Kanto. Normally at this time of the day, people and Pokémon were either just waking up, or still sleeping, but this day was a very special day.

Today was the day a certain trainer from Pallet Town will battle the head of the Battle Factory, Noland. And that 'certain trainer' is Ash Ketchum. Usually for challengers, Noland has them choose who they want to battle within his large collection of Pokémon, and the one Ash chose to battle was the almighty Articuno, who technically wasn't his as Noland only befriended it after saving the icy bird when its wing was injured. The Legendary Bird, though, could never turn down a challenge, especially after seeing the Pokémon Ash picked for their battle: Charizard, who had flew all the way from Charicific Valley last night after Ash called Liza to send him over.

* * *

Inside the facility, Noland and Articuno were seen together on the battlefield as Scott watched them from the stands.

"Articuno, I know your unquestionable power, but do not underestimate our opponents: Ash and Charizard," Noland said to the Legendary Bird as he stroked its feathers. "Even though we haven't seen their strength yet, I could tell by just looking at their eyes last night that the power they have is something truly fearsome."

Articuno nodded to its temporary trainer, understanding what he meant and showing that it felt the same way to after seeing both Ash and Charizard together the previous night.

"So with that said, let's give it all we got! We're not going to hold anything back!"

In response, Articuno spread its wings and gave a mighty roar to the closed ceiling above, though it could still be heard from outside the battlefield.

Over at the stands, Scott looked on with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

" _This is gonna be one interesting battle_ ," Scott thought to himself. " _Noland's tough, but from what I've seen from Ash so far, he's got a lot of potential within him. And I can't wait to see what he and his Charizard will do later on_."

* * *

Back outside, Ash's three traveling companions, Brock, May, and Max, were watching Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard flying high in the air, preparing themselves for the upcoming battle against Noland. They had seen Ash and Charizard practice many aerial-maneuvers like steep dives and climbs, reach heights they couldn't ever imagine a Charizard achieving, and even show off a new move: Dragonbreath.

"Wow. Ash and Charizard are _really_ getting everything all ready for Noland." commented an impressed May.

"I know!" enthused Max. "And I so can't wait to see this battle! It's gonna be so awesome!"

"Yeah, and the thing is, Charizard has never faced against a legendary Pokémon before, and considering his intense love for battling, you know he's gonna give it everything he has." stated Brock.

The conversation between the three was interrupted when they heard Charizard's mighty roar from the sky above them. The three saw the winged-lizard fly farther away from the Battle Factory.

"Hey, where are they going?" asked May.

"Hmm, perhaps Charizard just needs a little more space to show off some more moves." answered Brock.

* * *

Up in the air, Ash, on Charizard's back and Pikachu in the protective grasp of his left arm, pleasantly admired the high view he was at right now.

"Alrighty buddy," Ash started, "looks like this a good enough space, so show me everything you got!"

Hearing this, Charizard smirked before he took off like jet, performing several impressive aerial techniques, from loops to barrel rolls and even immelmann turns, all in an incredibly fast motion. As he did this, Charizard roared powerfully as Ash screamed enthusiastically.

"RAWRR!"

"YEAH!"

"PIKA!" Pikachu screamed as he struggled to remain in Ash's arm.

Once Charizard was done, he flew in place with a prideful grin on his snout.

"Charizard, that was awesome! You've really learned a lot back at the valley!" Ash happily complimented his fifth Pokémon as he patted the back of its neck with his right hand.

Ash then felt Pikachu's head collapse over his left arm, seeing his beloved started incredibly dizzy from the fast-paced air tricks.

"Pika pika..." the electric mouse moaned.

"Heheh, don't worry buddy," said Ash, petting the top of Pikachu's head, "I think we're about done here. Right, Charizard?"

"Rawr."

Chuckling a bit at the mouse, Charizard shook his head.

"What's that? You still got some new moves to show us?"

Charizard looked back to his trainer and nodded.

"Rawr."

Seeing this, Pikachu groaned and slumped down to his belly on the lizard's neck, not wanting to go through any more intense action.

Ash chuckled for a bit and rubbed the mouse's back.

"It's gonna be alright pal. Once we're done, you can sleep through the battle if you'd like."

Pikachu gave a short thumbs-up as his got back up to the grasp of his trainer's left arm.

"Pika..."

"Alright Charizard, what else you got?"

Charizard smirked as he started to search for a good set of clouds. It was time to show Ash this awesome move he had learned at the Charicific Valley. Within his sight, he saw a huge clump of clouds not too far from where he was at. It looked like the perfect target, so the lizard flew towards it.

* * *

"They're getting real far now."

"Yeah, they're starting to look like Pidgey from here."

"I just hope Ash and Charizard don't get too carried away. We know how headstrong they both are. It's a perfectly equal, honestly."

* * *

"Is this a new attack, Charizard?"

"Rawr." the lizard replied with a nod.

"Cool! Let's see what it is!"

With his eyes targeted on the clouds, Charizard focused all his power within to start up his new attack, but before he could even execute it, much larger and darker clouds suddenly appeared from behind the clouds he intended to fire on. Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard were surprised as they got engulfed by the large number of darker clouds, trapping them inside.

"Aw man, it's too dark to see! Charizard, think you could use your new move to get us out of here?"

The lizard nodded and he looked for a good opening to use the attack. Unfortunately, before he could get the chance, a thunder clap occurred not too far from their location, bringing the horrifying realization to Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard's minds.

They were stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Charizard tried to use his new attack again, but endless lightning bolts from pretty much every corner prevented him from doing so.

"Charizard, it's too dangerous to use your new attack! We have to get out of here now!"

Charizard grunted in disapproval at first, disappointed he didn't get to show off his attack, but he knew Ash was right, so he instantly took off, looking for a way out of the storm. The lizard could barely fly a good distance though, considering all the lightning bolts, leaving him stranded in a singular spot.

"Pikachu, you think you could block all the lightning bolts away from us?"

The mouse bravely nodded and he jumped above his trainer's head, using his Thunderbolt attack to block away all the incoming lightning bolts.

"Okay," Ash said once it looked clear for the moment, "now's our chance Charizard!"

After Pikachu landed back on the lizard and moved up to his neck, behind Charizard's head, the lizard flew as fast as he could to find a way out as Pikachu continued to counter any lightning bolts headed their way. The storm was so big and the clouds were so thick, it almost seemed impossible to escape, as the trio flew around the deadly hazard for minutes and minutes. And Pikachu was getting tired.

"Pikachu pika..." Pikachu tiredly panted on Charizard's neck, almost out of energy, but still incredibly willing to protect two of his closest friends.

Ash saw Pikachu's exhausted state and grew worried. He didn't want his best friend to overwork himself just for his own carelessness.

"Pikachu, please don't work yourself too much."

"Pika Pi pikachu." the mouse argued, saying he doesn't want Ash and Charizard to get hurt.

Charizard heard all of this and he grew more determined. In a way, just like Ash, he felt this was all his fault due to how much he wanted to show off what his training at Charicific Valley had resulted in.

"RAWWRRR!"

There's no way he's gonna let his two greatest friends get hurt because of him, so he narrowed his eyes and flew in a faster pace, swiftly avoiding every lightning bolt Pikachu was unable to counter.

Ash hung on tight to Charizard, unable to open his eyes due to the incredible speed his faithful fire/flying type was flying in. Pikachu, despite his tired state, still kept on protecting Ash and Charizard from the storm's lightning. Hearing a thunder clap from behind, Pikachu looked back and spotted two larger lightning bolts heading straight for Ash's neck and Charizard's tail. Pikachu jumped up from Charizard's neck, bringing him behind the two, and he fired a strong Thunderbolt to the two lightning bolts, blocking them away. The mouse was just about to use Quick Attack to make it back to his friends, was then he a humongous lightning bolt heading straight down to Ash and Charizard, and neither of them noticed due to Ash's closed eyes and Charizard's focused eyes. The lightning bolt was also going by too fast for Pikachu to counter.

"PIKA PI!" Pikachu cried as he desperately brought his right paw out towards Ash and Charizard.

The lightning bolt harshly struck the trainer and his lizard, causing the both of them to scream in intense pain as Pikachu could only watch in horror. The strong electricity from the bolt made Ash and Charizard's bodies move around vigorously, eventually leading the front of Ash's skull colliding with the back of Charizard's skull.

When the lightning bolt finally dissipated, Ash and Charizard were both rendered unconscious as their bodies began to plummet back down to the ground. Pikachu used Quick Attack to reunite with them, clinging onto Ash's jacket and desperately trying to wake him up, but to no avail.

"Pika pi!"

* * *

All the way back down to the Battle Factory, Brock had prepared breakfast for him and his friends and they were eating at the same spot they were watching Ash and Charizard train. The thunderstorm was too far away from the facility for the gang to see.

"Geez," started Max, "when will Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard come back?"

"Yeah, they flew so far, it became impossible to even see them." May pointed out.

Scott then approached them as they started to eat.

"Hey guys, where's Ash at?" the man asked them. "He was suppose to be here around this time to start the battle."

"We're wondering the same thing," Brock pointed out. "I'm sure they'll be back soon though. Ash and Charizard love training, but they'll never let it get in the way of a battle."

"Hmm, I hope you're right." Scott said, not out of impatience, but out of worry.

* * *

Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard had a rough landing, but thanks to the trees, it wasn't too bad. The trio had landed in a small circular clearing of the forest that surrounded the Battle Factory, and their bodies laid on the soft grass right beside a small lake. Pikachu became unconscious with his friends due to the landing. Luckily, neither of the three were too hurt from the recent incident, minus a few scratches and bruises.

" _Ugh, my head..._ " Charizard moaned to himself as he started to wake.

" _Man, why do I feel so different?_ "

Charizard sat up and shook that thought off for the moment as the pain in his head quickly returned, provoking him to rub his forehead to ease out the pain. Though, this is when Charizard started to feel... not himself.

Not only did his right "claw" felt different, but when he touched his forehead...

He felt hair.

* * *

Heh. Can you guess what happened to Ash and Charizard?

Whatever it is (you all most likely already know), things are gonna be absolutely chaotic for them now!

I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter for this new fanfic and please leave a review if you'd like to share with me your thoughts!

Thank you and have a nice day!


	2. The Big Switch

Because I'm bored and this fanfic is really going to be one of my shorter ones, here's the second chapter!

Here, we continue on with Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard after they had got away from the big storm, albeit, not in the way they expected.

Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

" _Why does my head feel so weird?_ " Charizard thought to himself with half-closed eyes as he rubbed what he thought what was his right claw all over the top of his head, feeling something thick and hairy.

Charizard's mind started to hurt again, causing him to hold his head still for a moment until all of his consciousness began to return. With his mind all straight now, Charizard was able to now feel the rest of his body, and something instantly did not feel right.

" _Why do I feel so small and skinny?_ "

Feeling suspicious, Charizard took his "claw" off his head to look at. Much to his surprise, it wasn't the scaly orange three-clawed limb he was used to. Instead, it was an arm made of flesh along with a five-fingered hand covered by a black finger-less glove.

" _What the..._ "

Charizard then looked down to the rest of his body, seeing a figure a lot more slender than the one he knew, including much longer legs and feet that had toes. Not only that, he also saw some familiar-looking clothes he appeared to be wearing. It didn't take long for Charizard to realize that these clothes were his trainer's clothes, hoodies, jeans and all.

" _Why am I so skinny? And why am I wearing Ash's clothes?!_ "

Charizard then noticed that, besides some other things, we was missing certain appendages. Looking back, Charizard saw both of his wings and flame-lit tail missing, only seeing the back of his trainer's clothes that he was wearing.

" _This has gotta be a dream..._ "

Charizard brought out his new arms in front of him again and looked straight at them. Moving the fingers around, he saw he was in complete control of them, same with the legs as he moved them up and down. Charizard then grabbed the bottom of the hoodie and pulled it up, seeing even more flesh, along with a naval, and he brought the hoodie back down, creeped out. It was now completely clear that this wasn't his naturally body.

"What's going on?!" Charizard spoke before instantly clasping his mouth shut with his hands. What came out wasn't the usually grunt or roar, instead, it was a clear speaking human voice that belonged to his trainer.

"Am I a human now?" Charizard dreadfully whispered.

He soon took notice of the lake nearby, quickly crawling up the edge to look at his reflection. What he saw was not the orange scaled snout that came along with a fanged mouth, blue eyes, and two blunt horns on the top. It was a human head with a regular mouth, a small puny nose, brown eyes with dark eyebrows above, z-shaped marks on his cheeks, and the raven-dark hair that he had felt a while ago. This wasn't just any human body. It was Ash's.

"No. No, no! This can't be real! This just HAS to be a dream! It has to!"

Charizard then noticed Pikachu starting to wake up. The mouse stood up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around for his trainer and teammate, quickly noticing the technical latter running up to him and bending down to his level with a horrified face.

"Pikachu! You gotta use Thunderbolt on me right now! Please! Wake me up from this nightmare!"

Pikachu looked confused at first, but he obediently complied, giving Charizard a Thunderbolt that was effective, but not too powerful due to all the energy Pikachu had used up for the storm. Charizard collapsed to the ground once again with his eyes closed.

"Pika Pi?"

Pikachu approached the body of his trainer, a little unsure at the moment. He was happy that he was okay from the storm, but he was really weirded out right now, considering his trainer immediately demanded the mouse to attack him when he woke up.

Charizard opened his eyes and looked down, seeing that he was still in the body of his trainer.

"No! It's not a dream, this is real!"

"Pikachu?"

"Pikachu, I'm not Ash, I'm Charizard, stuck in Ash's body!"

The mouse tilted his head. Perhaps his trainer landed to hard on his head.

"I'm serious! And also-"

Before Charizard could finish, he noticed his original body lying on its side not too far from him and Pikachu.

"If I'm in Ash's body, then that means Ash is in my body."

Charizard got off the ground and walked towards the large orange body that was once his. Pikachu ran ahead and stood in front of the lizard's sleeping snout. The electric mouse was still unsure of the current situation, especially if it was even real or not, but it was probably best to check on the lizard right now.

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu said as he lightly tapped the lizard's face with his tail.

Ash woke up and after blinking a few times, he saw Pikachu right in front of him.

"Rawr! Rawrr!" Ash unawarely roared as he happily hugged Pikachu and pulled him close.

Pikachu knew what Ash was saying, in that he was relieved he was alright from the fall.

"Looks like he doesn't know," Charizard whispered to himself. "Should I just tell him or wait til' he finds out himself?"

"Rawr rawr rawr?" Ash questioned Pikachu, asking him if Charizard was alright. This made Pikachu ultimately see that his trainer and Charizard really were in each others' bodies. After all, why would Charizard ask for the whereabouts of his own self? However, the poor mouse had no idea on how to reply Ash's question.

After a brief moment of though, Pikachu replied to Ash, "Pika pika," telling him to look down.

Ash got surprised for a moment. For a minute, it seemed like he perfectly understood Pikachu, but he digressed that for now as he did what Pikachu told him to do. Needless to say, Ash was speechless. From the way bottom were two giant feet tipped with three razor sharp fangs each, and going up, was a large torso with a cream-colored underside starting at his chest. Ash's eyes widened and he let go of Pikachu to look at his arms, seeing not his regular human humans with finger-less gloves, but two skinny arms with three claws on each limb. And like the rest of his new body, they were all covered in orange scales.

"Rawr?!"

Ash quickly jumped to his feet and he placed his claws on his neck, feeling how long it is. He then turned his head around to see two giant wings and a long tail with a burning flame at the end. Still in disbelief, Ash tried to move the tail on his own to see if it really was his, and much to his horror, it was as shown by the movements. Ash turned back around and saw the lack, quickling rushing over to it to stare at his reflection. In the lake's crystal clear, Ash saw Charizard's head; fangs, snout, blue eyes, and blunt horns. The lizard was absolutely terrified and he slowly stepped away from the lake and fell to his knees. Poor Ash didn't know what to do.

"Hey Ash..."

Ash looked back and saw his own body walking up to him. He felt a little scared inside, hoping that this was all a dream, but he knew deep down that it wasn't.

"How do you think this all happened?"

Ash thought about that, and then the realization came to him in no time.

"Rawr rawr. Rawr ra rawrr rawr."

Unfortunately for Charizard, since he was now a human, could no longer understand Pokémon. This was especially irritating for him right now as he couldn't understand his own distinct speech.

Charizard sighed and said, "Ash, do you think you could abbreviate more on what you're saying? As much as I hate saying this, I can't understand you."

Ash nodded and he repeated what he said, this time pointing to the clouds above, then to Pikachu, and lastly to both his and Charizard's heads.

"Alright, I think I get what you're saying now. So in that storm, when we both got struck by that lightning bolt, we crashed our heads into each other and that's what made our minds switch bodies."

"Rawr." said Ash with a nod.

"I guess that makes sense, but now how are we going to get back to normal?"

When that came to mind, both Ash and Charizard became worried as neither could think of a way on getting to their regular bodies. Pikachu, who has now accepted that everything that's been happening is for real, stepped between them and gave a sympathetic look for them, while also feeling the situation was his fault, seeing that he had failed to block the bolt that caused their mind swap.

"Rawrrr ra rar." Ash softly grunted as he picked up Pikachu and petted his head, telling him it wasn't his fault and thanking him for doing his best back at the storm.

Charizard, while he couldn't understand their Pokéspeech, he still knew what Ash was telling Pikachu.

"Ash is right, Pikachu."

The mouse sighed for a bit and he jumped to Charizard's shoulder.

"Well, I guess the best thing to do right is to get back to your friends at the Battle Factory, Ash."

Ash nodded in agreement.

"Think you could fly us there?" Charizard asked grudgingly, feeling that it would be embarrassing to be riding on his own body, even though it was the best option right now.

Ash though, hadn't thought about this. He obviously has never flown before as he... never had wings, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. He faced away from Charizard and Pikachu, lowered his back, and pointed to it, signaling them to get on. Charizard reluctantly got on Ash's back and he held Pikachu the same way his trainer did before the storm. Ash jumped from the ground and tried to flap his wings, but for some reason, he just couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, the wings didn't move an inch, and after much later, Ash gave up, having grown tired from the exertion. Seeing this, Charizard and Pikachu jumped off of Ash's back.

"You can't fly, can you Ash?"

Panting a little, Ash shook his head.

Charizard, while a little frustrated, also understood this. The power of flight was natural to Charizard as soon they evolve from Charmeleon, but Ash was not a natural Charizard, so it would take time for him to learn how to fly.

"We can just go by foot then." Charizard said with a little discontent. Even though he no longer had his natural-Charizard hotheadedness, he still had a small temper within him.

Ash, on the other hand, sighed. He felt a little ashamed and pathetic of himself for not being able to fly on the spot. Before he joined Charizard, he saw his hat lying near the lake, so he went over there and picked it up, putting it on his head. It was, of course, a lot more loose on Ash's new head, but he didn't let that bother him for the time being. With his hat back on, Ash turned back to Charizard with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"You ready, Ash?"

"Rawr."

"Good. Let's go."

The three began their way through the forest to make it back to the Battle Factory, all with particular thoughts in their minds.

Charizard wanted nothing but to switch back to his regular body already. He felt pathetic and weak in Ash's human body and it was incredibly annoying to him seeing his trainer unable to succeed his power inside his body.

Ash wanted the same thing. While he was normally optimistic and confident, his current predicament halted all of that. He felt disappointed in himself for not being able to fly and he was also scared over the thought of possibly being trapped in Charizard's body forever. This would force Ash to give up his dream of being a Pokémon Master, and thus, making him and Charizard switch lives. Charizard would be the trainer and Ash would be the Pokémon.

Pikachu was just exhausted, from both the storm and the situation. It was all going by so fast, he just wanted to sleep, though he knew if Ash and Charizard were going to fight each other, he was the one who would have to stop them.

It was still morning, yet they all knew it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Oh boy...

Ash is Charizard and Charizard is Ash now! How are they going to get out of this mess?

Thank you all for reading and please, have a nice day!


End file.
